As
shares slid to nearly a two-year low, a director bought shares of the big discount retailer.
Dollar Tree stock (ticker: DLTR) bucked the market in 2022, ending the year flat while the
dropped 19%. But so far in 2023, the retailer’s shares are down some 25%, while the S&P 500 is sitting on a 12% gain.
In January, President and CEO Michael Witynski left the company, part of a series of changes initiated by activist investor Mantle Ridge. Dollar Tree management remained upbeat in March, but by May the company missed first-quarter expectations and cut guidance, sending shares sliding. The second quarter, reported in August, also disappointed.
Dollar Tree stock continued to drift downward, hitting an intraday low of $103.94 on Sept. 25; shares haven’t traded at that level since October 2021.
On Sept. 22, Dollar Tree director Daniel J. Heinrich paid $173,650 for 1,650 shares on the open market, an average price of $105.24 each. According to a form he filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Heinrich’s transaction was an initial purchase of Dollar Tree stock by a trust he controls. Heinrich owns another 3,575 shares in a personal account.
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Dollar Tree didn’t respond to a request to make Heinrich available. A Dollar Tree director since March 2022, Heinrich is a former chief financial officer of
(CLX). His last open-market purchase came in the month he joined Dollar Tree’s board, when he paid $66,340 for 425 shares, an average price of $156.10 each.
Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.
Write to Ed Lin at edward.lin@barrons.com and follow @BarronsEdLin.